Certain types of anti-ballistic missiles incorporate a warhead designed to scatter hundreds of metal pellets in a predetermined pattern. The pellets provide a kill mechanism against ICBM's by forming a pattern through which the ICBM must travel to impact with a target. Upon impact between the ICBM and some of the pellets, the kinetic energy is such that the ICBM is destroyed.
In some missiles, the structure surrounding the warhead must be removed before firing and releasing the pellets. This is very difficult. Or, the entire pellet/explosive structure must be located outside the missile shell. The latter option requires that the strutural shell outer diameter of the nose portion of the missile be reduced to pass beneath the external warhead layer. This causes increased strutural weight and loss of bending stiffness of the missile body.
In the present invention the pellets and explosives are incorporated within the structural shell of the missile. No added structure is required underneath the warhead layer. Therefore, a straight load path is retained in the shell, reducing structural weight and bending deflection. This also results in maximum internal volume.